NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Michael Vick has vivid memories of taking on UVA when he was a quarterback at Virginia Tech. Now he will get the chance to face the Cavaliers as a coach.
Vick will lead Norfolk State to Charlottesville on Friday night for their first meeting with the Cavaliers in program history.
"I think it is a full-circle moment," Vick said Tueday. "Any time I envision UVA or picture UVA, I think about when I was recruited. I think about the great players that played there, I think about Ronald Curry and him being recruited there and Ahmad Hawkins and all these great players."
The Spartans held their own in a 31-10 loss at Old Dominion this past Saturday, falling to 1-1 after that 56-0 victory against Winston-Salem State to open the season. NSU pulled to within a touchdown when Marco Peery's field goal cut the deficit to 17-10 in the third quarter, but the Monarchs pulled away down the stretch. Now the green and gold will get their chance to see how they stack up against a Power Four conference opponent that has entered the Top 25.
"It's a really cool environment to play in," Vick noted. "I want our players to embrace that and feel that and I'm certainly going to soak it all in on the opposing team's side as well like I did once before."
Virginia enters at 1-0 after a 34-8 season-opening victory over NC State and is coming off a bye week. Tony Elliott's group is ranked No. 25 in both the AP and Coaches Polls this week and is fresh off a program-record 11 wins last season. The NSU head coach has a great deal of respect for the Wahoos and what Elliott has constructed during his tenure in Charlottesville.
"It's an honor to go up against a UVA team that I had a chance to play against, know how good they are, know how good they can be," he noted. "I have so much respect for Coach Elliott and those guys and what they've built. It's a very veteran football team, so to speak, so I think they're a very good team to challenge and go up there and see where we're truly at."
"I'm just excited to have a chance to meet him," Elliott said. "I've got a tremendous amount of respect for who he is as a person, all that he's been through and the impact that he's now making."
Vick faced Virginia twice during his college career, winning both match-ups in 1999 and 2000. He has vivid memories of taking on the Cavaliers during his days at Virginia Tech, with one game sticking out in particular- playing with an ankle injury during his first season on the field for the Hokies.
"I wasn't known as the player that I became at the time and so I would say they slept on me," he recalled. "I think I went 7-for-9, 220-some yards- had a really good day on a hurt ankle and I learned a lot about myself."
Elliott has his own memories of facing Vick. The current UVA head coach suited up for Clemson when the Newport News native led Virginia Tech to a victory over the Tigers.
"They kicked our butt," said Elliott, noting that he's never met Vick. "They physically handed it to us. My wife has met him. She met him in the airport. He was gracious enough to take a picture and she's a big fan. I mean.. it's Michael Vick."
Norfolk State and Virginia will kick off Friday at 7 p.m.
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